Internal Investigations

Business, nonprofit, and government entities that suspect wrongdoing within their ranks have frequently turned to the attorneys at The Weinhardt Law Firm for help. In numerous cases where criminal or civil misconduct was suspected, the Firm’s attorneys have conducted thorough and confidential investigations, ferreted out the facts, developed the applicable law, and reported the results to upper management or the board.

Where the results of the investigation suggest a need to communicate with law enforcement, the Firm’s attorneys work with federal or state law enforcement agencies to guide their clients through the government enforcement process and to assist the government when necessary.

While the Firm’s internal investigations for its clients are generally highly confidential, a recent public example demonstrates the Firm’s capabilities. In 2013, the Chief Justice of the Iowa Supreme Court appointed Mark Weinhardt as special counsel to the Iowa Senate Ethics Committee to investigate allegations that Senator Kent Sorenson violated Senate ethics rules. It was alleged that Senator Sorenson accepted compensation to act as the Iowa chair of the campaign of Representative Michele Bachmann in the 2012 Iowa Presidential caucus cycle. Working under tight statutory time deadlines, the Firm conducted an in-depth investigation and issued an 80-page report with hundreds of pages of supporting exhibits (available here). The report not only found that Senator Sorenson violated ethics rules regarding the Bachmann campaign, it uncovered evidence suggesting he committed similar violations by accepting money to jump to the Ron Paul for President campaign just days before the caucuses. Five hours after the Firm released its report to the public, Senator Sorenson resigned. Nearly a year later Mr. Sorenson pleaded guilty to federal campaign finance and obstruction of justice charges based in large part on the matters described in the Firm’s report.